Weakness

First seen

Somebody tied rocks to Jurassic Rockpuncher's hands. Being unable to remove them (because he had rocks tied to his hands), he was left with no choice but to roll with it.

Jurassic Rockpuncher is a zombie that appears in the Jurassic Marsh expansion in Plants vs. Zombies 2. He is an upgraded version of Jurassic Bully. His special ability is using the rocks on his hands to punch plants, destroying them instantly. This also causes the tile under the destroyed plant to become scorched, making that tile temporarily unplantable. This ability makes him an environment modifier.

Like his downgrade, he is immune to Primal Peashooter's knockback effect. He also has more health compared to the Jurassic Bully.

Encounters

Overview

Jurassic Rockpuncher absorbs 2050 damage per shot. He loses his arm at 1030 damage per shot and dies at 2050 damage per shot.

Strategies

Jurassic Rockpuncher is much more dangerous than his predecessor, Jurassic Bully, due to his increased health and ability to scorch plants that he encounters. Long-ranged attacking plants are the preferred way to handle them, especially Laser Bean, Fume-shroom or Electric Peashooter as they can target all zombies at once in their lane. You may also have to rely on Coconut Cannon or Citron to deal more damage to one. However, an easy way to get rid of this zombie is to use Grimrose or Primal Potato Mine, especially if Grimroses are powered. Chomper and Toadstool are also a good choice as they can devour him instantly. Other instant kill plants are also great to use against them, especially against groups, although two are required to kill them. Of all the dinosaurs, pterodactyls are the most dangerous ones to work with these. They will drop them at the back of the lawn, which allows them to destroy all of your defenses in a lane unless you can get rid of them quickly, leaving the lane temporarily unplantable. However, all of the dinosaurs can make this zombie very dangerous. Use Perfume-shroom to charm dinosaurs as needed. You can also use Plant Food on plants like Primal Wall-nut to stall it like you would a Gargantuar, as Primal Wall-nut takes three smashes to be destroyed. The best counter is Banana Launcher, which can wipe him out quickly at long range by two shots. If you have Shrinking Violet, this strategy becomes easier because Banana Launcher can kill him at one shot after he is shrunk. Primal Wall-Nut will not only survive a single smash, but it will also fail to leave a crater behind if it is killed. Hot Date are also immune to leaving a crater when destroyed so you can also use it to deal some damage to this zombie. Chard Guard is also effective against these zombies as it can toss them back before they can have the chance to attack. Using this with Blover is an effective way. Guacodile and Parsnip can also be destroyed by this zombie if you plant it before this zombie comes.

Note: You can also use slowing or stalling plants like Snow Pea, Winter Melon, Cold Snapdragon, Hurrikale, Stallia, or Missile Toe to allow more time to set up your better defenses to counter this zombie properly. Hypnotized zombies are a very bad idea as they will be instantly killed by this zombie. However, Caulipower is a good choice against the Jurassic Rockpuncher as he can still be hypnotized, allowing him to instantly destroy almost any zombie in his way. Also, avoid using Intensive Carrot, as he can prevent the player from reviving them.

Remember: Jurassic Rockpuncher acts similarly to a Gargantuar, meaning Spikeweeds, Spikerocks, Cactus (if planted close), Celery Stalker (if planted first) or any plant that needs to be planted within biting range to attack are totally useless against it, unless the player has fed them with Plant Food. Try to use Lava Guava instead as it can help deal more damage to this zombie.

Trivia

He is the first veteran zombie to have a unique ability from their downgrade, with the second being Rodeo Legend Zombie.

Before the 6.9 Update, unlike Jurassic Bully, his head will instantly disappear instead of popping off, similarly to how the heads of Balloon Zombie, Super-Fan Imp, and the Zombotany Zombies from the first game disappear.

His second ability (to scorch tiles when crushing a plant) is not mentioned in his Almanac entry.